Electronic device and navigation method for tracking target device

ABSTRACT

In a navigation method for tracking a second electronic device using a first electronic device, the first electronic device receives position information of the second electronic device. A position of the second electronic device is marked on a navigation map stored in the first electronic device. The first electronic device is directed to track the second electronic device according to the marked position on the navigation map.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to navigation technology,and particularly to an electronic device and a navigation method fortracking a target device.

2. Description of Related Art

In a navigation method, a known location is a directing target of anelectronic device, and then a suitable path is determined by a globalpositioning system (GPS) for reference. A user can use the navigationmethod to direct to an unfamiliar location. However, the directingtarget in the navigation method is static, so a user cannot use thenavigation method to track a moving target.

For example, in a tour group, a tour guide leads tourists along a path,and the tourists need to follow the tour guide. If a tourist strays fromthe group, the tourist may not be able to use the navigation method totrack the tour guide as the tour guide keeps moving. Therefore, animproved navigation method for tracking a moving target device isdesired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a first electronic devicein communication with a second electronic device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a navigation system in the first electronicdevice.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a navigation method fortracking a target device using the navigation system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated byway of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted thatreferences to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are notnecessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at leastone.”

All of the processes described below may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, functional code modules executed by one or more generalpurpose electronic devices or processors. The code modules may be storedin any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storagedevice. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied inspecialized hardware. Depending on the embodiment, the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may be a hard disk drive, a compact disc, adigital video disc, a tape drive or other suitable storage medium.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a first electronic device1 in communication with a second electronic device 2. The electronicdevice 1 includes a navigation system 10, a first global positioningsystem (GPS) 11, a first communication module 12, a storage device 13, adisplay device 14, and at least one processor 15. The second electronicdevice 2 includes a second GPS 21 and a second communication module 22.In other embodiments, the first electronic device 1 and the secondelectronic device 2 may include more or fewer components thanillustrated, or have a different configuration of the variouscomponents.

In some embodiments, the first electronic device 1 is a tracker, and thesecond electronic device 2 is a target device to be tracked by the firstelectronic device 1. The first electronic device 1 and the secondelectronic device 2 may be mobile phones, tablet computers, personaldigital assistants, notebook computers, or other similar devices. Thenavigation system 10 periodically receives position information of thesecond electronic device 2, and directs the first electronic device 1 totrack the second electronic device 2 according to the received positioninformation.

The first electronic device 1 uses the first communication module 12 tocommunicate with the second communication module 22 of the secondelectronic device 2 through a wireless network, such as the Internet,the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) network, the GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS) network, the third generation (3G)telecommunication network, or WIFI, for example.

In another embodiment, a third electronic device (not shown in FIG. 1)is carried with either the first electronic device 1 or the secondelectronic device 2. The third electronic device supports bothshort-distance communication (e.g., WIFI, BLUETOOTH) and long-distancecommunication (e.g., the Internet, or the 3G telecommunication network).The third electronic device is paired with either the first electronicdevice 1 or the second electronic device 2 to communicate with the otherelectronic device over long-distance communication. For example, thefirst electronic device 1 is a GPS device installed on a car, and thefirst electronic device 1 only supports the short-distancecommunication, and the third electronic device (e.g., a mobile phone) iscarried with people in the car. Depending on the embodiment, the thirdelectronic device communicates with the first electronic device 1 viathe short-distance communication, and communicates with the secondelectronic device 2 via the long-distance communication, so as totransmit data between the first electronic device 1 and the secondelectronic device 2.

The first GPS 11 acquires position information of the first electronicdevice 1. The second GPS 21 acquires position information of the secondelectronic device 2.

In one embodiment, the navigation system 10 may include computerizedinstructions in the form of one or more programs that are executed bythe at least one processor 15 and stored in the storage device 13. Thestorage device 13 stores one or more programs, such as operatingsystems, applications of the first electronic device 1, and variouskinds of data, such as a plurality of maps 130. In some embodiments, thestorage device 13 may be an external storage card, such as a memorystick, a smart media card, a compact flash card, a secure digital card,or any other type of memory storage device.

The display device 14 may be a light-emitting diode (LED) display or atouch panel (e.g., a capacitive touch panel), for example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the navigation system 10 of the firstelectronic device 1. The navigation system 10 may include a sendingmodule 101, a receiving module 102, a determination module 103, and anavigation module 104. In general, the word “module,” as used herein,refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection ofsoftware instructions, written in a programming language, such as, Java,C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may beembedded in firmware, such as in an EPROM. The modules described hereinmay be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may bestored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or otherstorage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitorycomputer-readable medium include CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY, flash memory, andhard disk drives.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a navigation method fortracking a target device (e.g., the second electronic device 2) usingthe navigation system 10. Depending on the embodiment, additional stepsmay be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may bechanged.

In step S1, the sending module 101 sends a tracking request from thefirst electronic device 1 to the second electronic device 2 using thefirst communication module 12 and the second communication module 22.When the second electronic device 2 receives the tracking request, thesecond electronic device 2 may send an accepted response to theelectronic device 1 to accept the tracking request, or send a rejectedresponse to the electronic device 1 to reject the tracking request,according to a user selection performed on the second electronic device2.

When a user of the second electronic device 2 chooses to accept thetracking request, the second electronic device 2 sends the acceptedresponse to the first electronic device 1, and then the secondelectronic device 2 sends position information acquired from the secondGPS 21 to the first electronic device 1. The second electronic device 2sends the position information at each predetermined time interval(e.g., 5 second) to the first electronic device 1. The positioninformation may include a longitude, a latitude, and an altitude of aposition of the second electronic device 2, for example. When the userof the second electronic device 2 chooses to reject the trackingrequest, the second electronic device 2 sends a rejected response to thefirst electronic device 1, and no position information of the secondelectronic device 2 is sent to the first electronic device 1. If thereceiving module 102 receives the rejected response from the secondelectronic device 2, the procedure ends

When the receiving module 102 receives the accepted response from thesecond electronic device 2, in step S2, the receiving module 102receives the position information of the second electronic device 2.

In step S3, the first GPS 11 acquires position information of the firstelectronic device 1, and the determination module 103 calculates adistance between the first electronic device 1 and the second electronicdevice 2 according to the position information of the first electronicdevice 1 and the second electronic device 2.

In step S4, when the distance between the first electronic device 1 andthe second electronic device 2 is greater than or equal to a thresholdvalue (e.g., 10 meters), the navigation module 104 chooses a navigationmap from the maps 130 according to the position information of the firstelectronic device 1 and the second electronic device 2, and directs thefirst electronic device 1 to track the second electronic device 2according to the marked position on the navigation map (e.g., theposition information of the second electronic device 2). The navigationmodule 104 further marks the position of the second electronic device 2on the navigation map, and displays the navigation map on the displaydevice 14.

When the distance between the first electronic device 1 and the secondelectronic device 2 is less than the threshold value, the procedureends. In other embodiments, step S4 is executed regardless of thedistance, such that the determination module 103 does not need tocalculate the distance between the first electronic device 1 and thesecond electronic device 2 in step S3.

Since the first electronic device 1 receives updated positioninformation of the second electronic device 2 at each predetermined timeinterval, the navigation module 104 updates the marked position of thesecond electronic device 2 on the navigation map, and then directs thefirst electronic device 1 to track the second electronic device 2according to the updated position information of the second electronicdevice 2.

The navigation module 104 further marks a path from the first electronicdevice 1 to the second electronic device 2.

When the first electronic device 1 or the second electronic device 2 aremoved outside a range of the navigation map, an updated navigation mapis downloaded and displayed by the navigation module 104.

In other embodiments, if the first electronic device 1 has no GPS device(e.g., the first GPS 11), the second electronic device 2 may acquireposition information including a street/road name, a name of a specificbuilding, for example. Then the second electronic device 2 transmits theposition information to the first electronic device 1 using a message.Then, the navigation module 104 outputs the message received from thesecond electronic device 2, to prompt the user of the first electronicdevice 1 a newly location of the second electronic device 2. The messagemay be outputted using the display device 14, or a speaker of the firstelectronic device 1.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure, particularly, any embodiments, are merely possibleexamples of implementations, set forth for a clear understanding of theprinciples of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure withoutdeparting substantially from the spirit and principles of thedisclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to beincluded herein within the scope of this disclosure and the presentdisclosure is protected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented navigation method for tracking a second electronic device using a first electronic device, the first electronic device comprising a first global positioning system (GPS), and the second electronic device comprising a second GPS, the method comprising: receiving position information of the second electronic device; acquiring position information of the first electronic device from the first GPS; calculating a distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device according to the position information of the first electronic device and the second electronic device; choosing a navigation map according to the position information of the first electronic device and the second electronic device; marking a position of the second electronic device on the navigation map; starting to track the second electronic device when the distance is greater than a threshold value; directing the first electronic device to track the second electronic device according to the marked position on the navigation map; and stopping tracking the second electronic device when the distance is less than the threshold value.
 2. The method according to amended claim 1, further comprising: sending a tracking request from the first electronic device to the second electronic device; and in response to receiving an accepted response from the second electronic device, implementing the step of receiving position information of the second electronic device.
 3. The method according to amended claim 1, further comprising: receiving updated position information of the second electronic device at each predetermined time interval; updating the marked position of the second electronic device on the navigation map according to the updated position information; and directing the first electronic device to track the second electronic device according to the updated marked position on the navigation map.
 4. The method according to amended claim 1, wherein the position information comprises longitude, latitude, and altitude of the position of the second electronic device.
 5. The method according to amended claim 1, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device communicates over a wireless network.
 6. An electronic device in communication with a target electronic device, comprising: a first global positioning system (GPS); at least one processor; and a storage device storing a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to: receive position information of the target electronic device; acquire position information of the electronic device from the first GPS; calculate a distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device according to the position information of the first electronic device and the second electronic device; choose a navigation map according to the position information of the electronic device and the target electronic device; mark a position of the target electronic device on the navigation map; start to track the second electronic device when the distance is greater than a threshold value; direct the electronic device to track the target electronic device according to the marked position on the navigation map; and stop tracking the second electronic device when the distance is less than the threshold value.
 7. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the at least one processor further: sends a tracking request from the electronic device to the target electronic device; and in response to receiving an accepted response from the target electronic device, starts to receive position information of the target electronic device.
 8. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the at least one processor further: receives updated position information of the target electronic device at each predetermined time interval; updates the marked position of the target electronic device on the navigation map according to the updated position information; and directs the electronic device to track the target electronic device according to the updated marked position on the navigation map.
 9. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the position information comprises longitude, latitude, and altitude of the position of the target electronic device.
 10. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the electronic device and the target electronic device communicates over a wireless network.
 11. A non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor of a first electronic device, causes the first electronic device to perform a navigation method for tracking a second electronic device, the first electronic device further comprising a first global positioning system (GPS), and the second electronic device comprising a second GPS, the method comprising: receiving position information of the second electronic device; acquiring position information of the first electronic device from the first GPS; calculating a distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device according to the position information of the first electronic device and the second electronic device; choosing a navigation map according to the position information of the first electronic device and the second electronic device; marking a position of the second electronic device on the navigation map; starting to track the second electronic device when the distance is greater than a threshold value; directing the first electronic device to track the second electronic device according to the marked position on the navigation map; and stopping tracking the second electronic device when the distance is less than the threshold value.
 12. The non-transitory storage medium according to amended claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: sending a tracking request from the first electronic device to the second electronic device; and in response to receiving an accepted response from the second electronic device, implementing the step of receiving position information of the second electronic device.
 13. The non-transitory storage medium according to amended claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: receiving updated position information of the second electronic device at each predetermined time interval; updating the marked position of the second electronic device on the navigation map according to the updated position information; and directing the first electronic device to track the second electronic device according to the updated marked position on the navigation map.
 14. The non-transitory storage medium according to amended claim 11, wherein the position information comprises longitude, latitude, and altitude of the position of the second electronic device.
 15. The non-transitory storage medium according to amended claim 11, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device communicates over a wireless network. 